How Long Can the US Keep Up Being the Global Oil Filling Station?

The United States has stepped into an extraordinary role amid the 2026 Iran conflict and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz: the world’s primary swing supplier of crude oil and refined products. Record exports are helping offset massive global supply shortfalls, but this “filling station” status comes with clear limits—depleting strategic reserves, tightening domestic inventories, […]

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Since 2007, Shale Gas Has Saved U.S. Consumers Approximately $200 Billion Annually — A Quiet Revolution in Affordability

A new analysis from the Energy Institute at Haas at UC Berkeley quantifies what many in the energy sector have long known: the shale gas revolution, powered by hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, has delivered extraordinary savings to American consumers. According to Lucas Davis’s May 2026 working paper and accompanying blog post, shale gas has […]

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Are Data Centers Driving up Electricity Rates? Who is Responsible?

Electricity bills are rising across much of the United States, sparking heated debate. With AI fueling explosive data center growth, many point to hyperscale facilities as the culprit behind higher rates. But a new independent analysis from Energy + Environmental Economics (E3), released May 18, 2026, alongside corroborating work from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), […]

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The data center doomers must be defeated – But not at the cost of our family farms and water

The Washington Examiner was right on target in its May 16, 2026, editorial: the “data center doomers” — the coalition of socialists, Democrats, and foreign-funded activists pushing moratoriums and fear-mongering — must be defeated. Data centers are the backbone of the AI revolution, national security, economic growth, and America’s edge over China. Blocking their hands […]

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What is Going On with AI and Data Centers in the US?

The AI boom has supercharged America’s data center industry, turning what was once a steady infrastructure play into one of the fastest-growing drivers of electricity demand in the country. Hyperscalers and AI startups are racing to build massive facilities packed with GPUs that devour power at unprecedented rates. From rural Texas fields to Virginia’s “Data […]

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NERC Issues Alert on Data Centers Threatening Grid Stability

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has issued a rare Level 3 Essential Action Alert—its highest-urgency notification—warning that the explosive growth of data centers, particularly those powering AI training, cryptocurrency mining, and traditional computing loads, is introducing new risks to the bulk power system. Issued on May 4, 2026, the alert highlights “customer-initiated large […]

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US Weekly Rig Operator Report

Week Ending May 8, 2026 U.S. Rig Count Edges Higher for Third Straight Week The Baker Hughes U.S. rotary rig count rose by 1 rig to 548 for the week ending May 8, 2026. Here is the Full WellDatabase Weekly Report We recommend getting a Subscription at WellDatabase! This marks the third consecutive weekly increase […]

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